The occupation of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad by unarmed militia members was a statement by Iran to Trump that they are in control of our destiny in Iraq. But because Trump is an impetuous child and can’t track an issue past 280 characters, he didn’t understand that message. So he killed Iran’s ‘guy’ which will result in a full scale retaliation. As in, the U.S. embassy in Iraq will fall, as will the military bases where U.S. troops and contractors are present. There’s a high risk that thousands of Americans end up as hostages/bargaining chips in Iraq and beyond, in the very near future.
Trump’s greatest fear is that the world will see him for the weakling he is. He can escalate situations because his talk is backed up by the U.S. military. By holding the U.S. embassy Iran was exposing Trump for being weak and ineffectual...their militia power is so overwhelming they can impose their will without even using weapons. So without firing a shot, Iranian proxies took over the American embassy and occupied it right in the face of the Iraqi authorities, who were politically powerless to intervene. That means our embassy in Baghdad is functionally unprotected and in the presence of armed adversary with an overwhelming tactical advantage. The U.S. military cannot defend the embassy against that same militia, when it comes back armed.
By impulsively killing Iranian General Qasem Sulaimani Trump has effectively given our embassy to Iran, and surrendered the U.S. presence in Iraq. Whether or not you wanted troops out of Iraq, having them have to evacuate under fire was not the ideal finish to an invasion which never should have taken place. These developments do not advantage the U.S. in any way, anywhere in the world. In fact, it makes it very likely that Afghanistan will soon follow.
The kind of humiliation the United States is about to experience in Iraq will be heard loud and clear by our adversaries around the world. The days of avoiding conflict with the U.S. out of political expediency are about to come to a screeching halt.
How many americans will die in the next few days because our president makes decisions based on self-interest and what he sees on Twitter? How many Iraqis will die? How many American allies? Too many, that’s the only certainty.
It is difficult to overstate the destruction of american soft power under this laughably incompetent administration.
So, will Iran close the Persian Gulf? Maybe for a couple of weeks, just to gut-punch the world economy and further alienate the U.S.?
I had not foreseen the complete capitulation of the entire republican party, (wait, Justin Amash….just the one!), over everything they claim to value, to be so open and shameless. But I guess if there’s one thing the republican party has stood for since WW2, it’s self-interest. So they’re living that value, no matter what it costs America. One thing is clear; there are no honorable Republicans.
I’m guessing the recession everyone has been fearing is about to be triggered, due to a spike in oil prices from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Everything is about to get worse.
Could this finally break the spell Trump has over the MAGA’s? With their hero globally humiliated as #IMPOTUS, will they re-think their allegiance. Like Trump, the MAGAs can’t align themselves with weakness. The image of strength is what they live for. And when they have power, they act with cruelty, to exhibit their power. Heaven help the MAGA’s should there be true reciprocity.
The reason MAGA’s are so consistently wrong is because they’re operating on a false premise. Their entire worldview (which is driven by fear, in case that wasn’t obvious enough), is based on a belief that is false, and which they are too weak to face. They’ve melded their personal insecurities and twisted sense of what ‘manly’ is with an addiction to an external narrative telling them exactly what they want to hear. Right wing radio and Fox channels telling them that all their personal biases are virtuous and right and good and American. All problems are because of liberals who hate America. All solutions come from Republicans because they’re so wise and bad-ass. Nothing is ever the fault of Republicans.
Most MAGAs have literally enfeebled their own ability to think independently. If they haven’t heard what the chicken-hawk lineup of Limbaugh, Hannity, Oreally?, Beck, Trump etc. are saying, they have no idea what to think. Challenge a MAGA to explain how a policy is consistent with American values, and they cannot. They sputter off about conspiracy theories and divert the conversation to memes rather than substance.
And that’s the truth about Republicans that they cannot face. They are untethered from any value other than “wield power for personal gain”. The founding fathers would abhor their studied incompetence and affinity for America’s enemies. They align with nazis and confederates and Russians and call themselves patriots. They are weak and scared and hateful and perpetually aggrieved. MAGA poutrage could fuel a clean economy. And the one thing every MAGA is absolutely certain of, is that they are not the problem. In fact, they are the ones making everything worse. And their pride won’t allow them to see that. They’re like the alcoholic who can’t see that the drinking is a problem. For an alcoholic to recover, they have to own that fact...their own contributions to their problems. But alcoholics have the advantage of hangovers and hospitals and jail to hint that a problem needs to be addressed. MAGAs don’t have that. They have Fox telling them to keep drinking. They have Trump saying that if anything, they probably aren’t drinking enough.
The MAGAs are an American disgrace. Their weakness is about to be exposed painfully, in Iraq.
Depressing. So let’s cleanse the palette with something light, yet deep: